Israeli Military Reverses Decision to Leave 2 Areas in Southern Lebanon – Reports
Israeli soldiers are seen near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Monday, March 4, 2024
DOHA (Sputnik) — The planned withdrawal of Israeli troops from two areas in southern Lebanon did not take place, a Lebanese military source told the Qatari television channel Al Araby on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli news website I24 reported, citing a US source, that Israel started withdrawing troops from parts of the southern Lebanon buffer zone as an «act of good faith.» It also cited an Israeli official as saying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would still maintain a military presence in the south of Lebanon. Participants in the Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington proposed creating «pilot zones» in southern Lebanon under the control of the Lebanese army, from which Israeli forces would withdraw. «The withdrawal of Israeli troops from two areas, Wazzani and Ayn Arab, was planned, but the decision was reconsidered,» the source said. Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces had not left the areas they occupied in Lebanon and remained in their previous positions. The fifth round of Lebanese-Israeli talks began in Washington on Tuesday. The US State Department previously said that meetings between Lebanese and Israeli delegations would take place in Washington from June 23 to 25. Israel and the Hezbollah reportedly reached a ceasefire agreement that was scheduled to take effect on June 19, but a Lebanese military field source told Sputnik that same day that Israel had continued airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
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